The cannabis industry, designed in part to help communities upended by the war on drugs, is being threatened by theft, racism and a market that is stacked against small operators. READ FULL ARTICLE

Keith Stephenson is the owner and founder of Purple Heart, the first Black-owned cannabis business to be licensed in the U.S. and the longest-running cannabis dispensary in Oakland, California. During the sweeping social justice protests last year, Purple Heart...

America’s oldest Black-owned dispensary, Purple Heart Patient Center, has been closed since criminals used the cover of protests to decimate Oakland’s cannabis industry last summer. We talked with founder Keith Stephenson about the road to get the facility...

Oakland’s Purple Heart is one of the first dispensaries I ever visited after getting my medical marijuana card in 2011. Back then, cannabis stores didn’t flank every other corner of the city like they do now. I don’t even recall how I found the place, but as...

Keith Stephenson, CEO and founder of Purple Heart Patient Center in Oakland, is this week’s guest on The Green Rush. Keith was the first African American in the United States to run a medical cannabis dispensary. He’s the founder and CEO of Purple Heart Patient Center...

Keith Stephenson’s 14-year-old Oakland cannabis shop, Purple Heart Patient Center, was one of scores that were ransacked the weekend of May 29 during widespread Black Lives Matter protests in California and across the nation. Having shuttered in March as a...

Customers were greeted by name as they walked into Purple Heart Patient Center on a recent Friday afternoon. The Jack London district store is the longest operating cannabis retailer in Oakland, and it’s busy. But despite the shop’s steady business and strong...